Bolts as stubborn as me - I'm going to cry!

[Ben Lessani]

Sod the WD40, sod the giant breaker bears and so the heat.

Just borrow an impact gun or go to a garage, you can buzz em off in about 5 seconds. Get the right tools and you won't have to spend a tonne of money buying new parts after trashing them with the wrong tools.

[VW BUSH]

And when you put the new ones in, use copper slip and dont over tighten

[Ben Lessani]

Copper slip on crank pulley bolts?

[Mikester]

Copper slip on crank pulley bolts?

And a blowtorch for good measure

[Wayne]

And when you put the new ones in, use copper slip and dont over tighten

Should be loctited just think what would happen if they fell out.

[Ben Lessani]

No threadlock or copper slip!

Torque em up to about 50Nm and you'll be good to go.

[slicksps]

Thanks a billion for your ... mixed responses

I helped my neighbour last week with a jump start so begged her to get her mechanic boyfriend to do it and he did.

Timing belt changed and all good, need to get a bottom cover at some point because it looks like it was borked by the last people who changed it. (Removed completely for now as it's safer than leaving it in; warnings above heeded)

Engine runs fine, but now I'm paranoid, how can I tell the timing belt is on exactly the right teeth? There seems to be a bit more noise than before but performance doesn't seem to have degraded. I'll know properly tonight on a drive to Wales.

[davero]

Glad you gotted sorted mate. Opinions are always going to vary with this sort of thing

[harlemex]

What sort of noise is it?

If it whines then the belt might be a touch too tight and need slackening.

[slicksps]

It sounds a little... sportier...

Don't get me wrong, I do like it, but it sounded more conservative before.

I did also change the spark plugs just because I could and there was no record of when it was last done...

The more I do to this car the more I realise how little I really know... following steps in Haynes isn't the same as 'knowing stuff' - Today I fitted alloys, drove back round to my house from the side street and one tyre was making a very odd noise... I checked online, checked the book and put it down to needing breaking in... it was still bugging me so I went back out and it turns out I didn't actually tighten the bolts and I'm lucky to still have that wheel and attachments. t**t!

Mechanics out, I'm sticking to web design... I do understand computers.